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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24103405">Ocean Rising</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MewUniverse/pseuds/MewUniverse'>MewUniverse</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Childhood Friends, Fantasy, Female Protagonist, Friendship, Gen, Kairi &amp; Riku &amp; Sora Friendship (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi &amp; Riku Friendship (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi-centric (Kingdom Hearts), Keyblade Wielder Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Male-Female Friendship, POV Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Sora Replacement, but not to outshine him, just to be different from him</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 00:08:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,293</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24103405</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MewUniverse/pseuds/MewUniverse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Sora freed Kairi's heart from within him, Kairi woke up--but this time, Sora doesn't return. With Sora vanishing, Kairi is left to fill Sora's large shoes as she, too, bears a keyblade. But while Sora had many worlds and many Heartless battles to practice his weaponry and magic, Kairi has precious little time to learn the same skills before confronting Ansem, Seeker of Darkness in the final battle. How can a girl so prone to hesitation work through her fears to finally learn to act?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Donald Duck &amp; Goofy &amp; Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi &amp; Riku &amp; Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi &amp; Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi &amp; Sora (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue - Self Sacrifice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Within the walls of Hollow Bastion... </em>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>Pointing the mystery keyblade at himself, Sora stabbed the blade through his ribcage. A breath caught in his lungs. From the corner of his eye, he saw a glowing heart float over to Kairi's body and burst into light. Good… it worked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His head throbbed. Donald called out his name. Kairi jolted upright. Sora's knees buckled. Kairi called out his name and ran to him…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He fell back. His body evaporated into light before she could catch him, before he could feel her warmth…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Falling… he was falling into darkness… as if it would never end...</span>
</p><p><span>The floor was inches from his face. The floor of… Hollow Bastion? Donald's and Goofy’s voices echoed in the distance, but he couldn’t see them. Sora couldn't get out of his hunched over position to run after his friends. He skittered forward, then backwards. </span><em><span>A Heartless? Me?!</span></em><span> His new tiny head popped up as his antennae and limbs jittered.</span> <em>A Heartless? Me?! </em> His new tiny head popped up as his antennae and limbs jittered. <em> I can get back to Kairi!</em></p><p>He skittered across the floor. <em> Kairi, Kairi, Kairi… </em></p><p>He scuttled down walls. <em> Kairi, Kairi, Kairi… </em></p><p>He jumped across traps and elevator contraptions. <em> Kairi, Kairi, Kairi… </em></p><p>He slunk down more walls and across more floors. <em> Kairi… Kairi? </em></p><p>A familiar unseen flame of warmth guided him down many stone cold levels. <em> Kairi, Kairi--KAIRI!!! </em> There she was, in the middle of a swarm of other dark Heartless, standing between Donald and Goofy. He skittered closer to her than the other Heartless did. <em> Kairi! Kairi-- </em></p><p>Donald swung his staff towards him. He flew back and smacked the floor. </p><p><em> Ow! </em>Sora squirmed helpless on his back.</p><p>Donald shouted something--a spell.</p><p>
  <em> Oh no. </em>
</p><p>Flames engulfed Sora along with the other Shadows.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Embracing Destiny</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Go! The Heartless are coming!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Those words from Riku echoed even after Kairi made haste with Sora’s anthropomorphic animal friends alongside her. As much as she hated to leave Riku behind to hold back that dark man Ansem… she just didn't have a way to help him. Her mind still reeled from the way Sora just… evaporated into thin air. What had even happened? Where did he go?! Digging into the palm of her hand was the only remnant of Sora that she clutched tightly to herself--the silver crown necklace he had never taken off in the time she and him had been friends. It was still warm, and it was the only thing grounding her amid these foreign stone surroundings.</span>
</p><p>“What about the keyhole?!” the shield-carrying dog-person exclaimed to the duck-person.</p><p>“We'll find a way to seal it later!” Kairi declared, surprising herself with her own boldness.<br/><br/>“Yeah! Let’s just get outta here!” the duck shouted back.</p><p>The scurrying of Heartless encroached silently on the three as duck, dog, and girl fled. Every so often when Kairi looked behind her, she could see the crevices of shadows twitching, yellow orb eyes peering out. Both the duck and the dog were armed, she also noticed, but she herself was dead weight. </p><p>But Riku, her best friend, could fight. And she had just run off on him. Didn't she actually have a way to help him? There had to be a way to free him from that man, wasn't there?</p><p>“Oh, by the way, I’m Goofy!” the dog said to Kairi, surprisingly bright and polite despite how they were fleeing certain doom. “And this is Donald!” He pointed at the angry-looking duck.</p><p>“Too much talking, not enough running,” was the duck Donald’s angry muttering.</p><p>“Well, you’re one to talk, Mr. Hothead,” Goofy teased back. Despite the impending, or maybe because of the adrenaline from running away from it, Kairi laughed. These two looked so different from anyone she had ever known, yet acted similarly. Immediately she felt safe fleeing with them.</p><p>Fleeing with friends… well, with friends of her friends so far. There was Riku still left behind.</p><p>Many flights of stairs and several elevator contraptions later, the three reached the castle entrance. Kairi stopped at the top of the stairs as Goofy and Donald raced their way to the bottom of them. “Kairi, what’re you doing?” Goofy asked, looking up towards her.</p><p>“I can't leave without Riku!” Kairi clasped her hands over her chest, the precious necklace laced in her fingers. “What if Ansem takes off with him before we can get back?”</p><p>“We can't help him yet!” Goofy called to her. “Not until we get reinforcements.”</p><p>“Come on!” Donald shouted, beckoning with his staff all the more insistent.</p><p>Heartless bubbled out from the floor around Donald and Goofy. Kairi ran to them as her heart pounded with fear. Something brushed at her ankle; she yelped and jumped back. A single Shadow hovered at her feet looking up at her. She jolted her head up, sensing a familiar presence as she looked around. <em> Sora…? </em>She again stared at the lone Heartless not in formation with the others.</p><p>“Go away, you stupid Heartless!” Donald smacked the Shadow away from Kairi with a swing of his staff. “Fire!” Vibrant orange flames burnt up the Shadow then jumped and spread to the other Shadows that had been closing in on the three.</p><p>The sensation of Sora evaporated. Had Kairi just imagined it?</p><p>“More at three o'clock!” Goofy smacked his shield into more Shadows that appeared. Donald followed up his friend’s attack with a furious swinging of his staff and a wind spell.</p><p>Kairi stood frozen in place, unable to attack, watching as Shadows were blown back to make a path of escape. The full weight of what happened to Sora crashed hard into her heart. Sora… was gone… trying to save her…</p><p>Heartless swarmed her, cocooning her from her surroundings.</p><p>“KAIRI!” Goofy shouted.</p><p>She fell to her knees. The Heartless scratched and clawed and shoved into her, the pressure of darkness growing around her.</p><p>
  <em> Sora, I need you! Riku, I have to save you! </em>
</p><p>A brilliant light broke forth from her body. Shadows crashed into walls and dissolved from existence. Floating before her was a golden keyblade intricately detailed with flowers, a paopu fruit dangling from the pommel. Mouth agape, Kairi stood once more. She reached out and grasped the handle of the weapon in her hand.<br/><br/>It felt… light. It felt like Sora. Like Destiny Islands. Like home.</p><p>Like everything that had been ripped away from her.</p><p>Kairi hefted the keyblade in both hands now, grinning. A fire invigorated her being, flowing through her veins. She let out a mighty battle cry as she slashed at whatever fledgling Shadows remained in the room. Left and right, left and right and all the way behind her--no shred of darkness escaped the sudden tornado of righteous fury.</p><p>Donald gaped as he watched Kairi, while Goofy mumbled, "Gawrsh."</p><p>When the room was empty, Kairi halted in the middle of the floor, leaning on her Keyblade to catch her breath. “Wow,” was all she could manage in wide-eyed shock.</p><p>“Amazing!” Donald jumped up and down in giddy excitement. “We still got a key!”<br/><br/>“Wow is right!” Goofy beamed like a proud parent. “That was amazing!” <br/><br/>“But we can’t relax yet!” Donald halted mid-jump and pointed at the walls. <br/><br/>Kairi whipped her keyblade up. Sure enough, more Heartless slithered out of the shadows before the trio had even had time to leave the room. Goofy hefted his shield and Donald muttered something as his wand began to glow. Just as Kairi readied to run forward to swing her weapon at them--</p><p>A mighty roar reverberated the room. The Heartless scattered. A monstrous beast perched atop the banister decor leaped to the floor, looming over Kairi even while hunched over where he stood. Kairi gasped, stepping back warily. Boy did that beast look terrifying… but yet it didn’t feel dark like the Heartless did.</p><p>“Beast!” Goofy called out with relief.</p><p>“Go now!” the Beast insisted. “While there’s still time! More Heartless are coming!”</p><p>“But what about you?!” Goofy retorted back.</p><p>“I told you before; I’m not leaving without Belle,” the Beast insisted. “Now go!”</p><p>Donald was already scurrying, with Goofy following with just a moment of hesitation. Kairi remained where she stood. Sora’s necklace rested in one hand, still twined in her fingers. With that precious charm still with her, the earlier insistence she had expressed to Goofy and Donald stayed with her.</p><p>When Sora and Riku told her about their plans to travel the world on a raft, Kairi had hesitated. She had taken so long to decide to join them, to decide she didn’t want them leaving her behind. This was different. This was urgent. Kairi wasn’t going to take her time anymore. Now was the time to act.</p><p>“Kairi?” Donald turned around, giving a baffled look to her.</p><p>Kairi fastened Sora’s necklace around her neck. The crown rested above the teardrop pearl she always wore. Taking a deep breath, Kairi faced the wizard and the soldier. “And I’m not leaving without Riku.” Before her self-doubt could creep back, she spun around and ran back up the stairs in the direction she had come. “Come on! The keyhole needs to be sealed!”</p><p>With a grunt, the Beast bounded after her on all fours, outpacing her to take the lead.</p><p>“KAIRI!” Goofy yelled.</p><p>The captain of the guard said something more, a sentence with the word ‘get’, but Kairi didn’t hear him clearly. Forward progress was her only goal now. Acting before she could hesitate was more important. Kairi didn’t dare look back. It didn’t matter if either duck or dog followed. All she needed was to reach the keyhole and the other princesses. Her hands gripped her floral keyblade, but even with sore fingers she didn’t let go. The weapon was her lifeline. It was her freedom, her destiny. It was the key to light, and her key to her dearest friends.</p><hr/><p>The key was also supposed to keep her from getting her butt kicked, but she supposed that was too much to ask of a weapon placed five minutes ago into the hands of an untrained kid.</p><p>“HOW are there SO many different kinds of Heartless?!” Kairi screamed. She had just cut through yet another flying Heartless with goggles. “They just keep coming!!!”</p><p>Beast roared as he knocked more of the armored shadow beings into the wall. “We can’t take them all out! We only need to cut through them!”</p><p>“Right, right!” Kairi hefted her keyblade over her head--crap, there were dozens of them now. Little flying colored dots, massive balls on stringy legs, shadowy things with pointed hats--these all made the tiny shadows from earlier even more diminutive. “Oh no…”</p><p>Of all the worst times for her hesitance and caution to reappear, now was the worst time. Yet here she was, frozen in place, monsters encroaching on her from all sides. What to do, what to do?! Beast was helping, yes, but he couldn’t handle all of them. Move, Kairi, move--</p><p>A boot whacked her chin. Her head hit the ground. Dazed, Kairi flipped to her front to dodge a spark flying at her. Her keyblade lay precariously near the edge of the path. Lunging to her feet, she ran to her keyblade--</p><p>“Call it back to you!” chimed a high-pitched voice near her ear.</p><p>Kairi jolted to a standstill with her hand outstretched. Light burst from her hand--and there was her keyblade in her grip again. Beast roared behind her, attacking the Heartless, so no way had he been the one talking to her.</p><p>“Good! Now time to try some magic on these guys!” chimed the voice again.</p><p>“Huh?!” Kairi turned her head. A little green creature stood on her shoulder. She yelped and jerked her shoulder back, knocking the critter off.</p><p>“Whoa!” The critter grabbed onto her wristband before he was sent flying any further. “Sorry! The name’s Jiminy Cricket! I’m a friend of Sora’s!”</p><p>“You are?!” Kairi cradled him in one hand, just in time to duck and roll away from a sputter of icicles flying at her.</p><p>“I’ve been keeping notes of Sora’s journey!” Jiminy explained as Kairi made some distance between herself and the Heartless. “I can help you with some magic spells Sora’s been using against large groups of Heartless like this!”</p><p>“That would be really nice about now!” Kairi plopped Jiminy back onto her shoulder as she slid back into her battle-ready stance. “Thank you!” Later she could question the little guy about how he followed her; right now she really needed the guidance with her weapon.</p><p>“Welcome!” Sounding pleased with himself, Jiminy began, “For now, do what I say! I’ll explain later!”</p><p>“Right!”</p><p>“Most of these enemies can fly, making them weak to lightning. Point your keyblade to the sky and shout Thunder!”</p><p>“THUNDER!” With her words and action, Kairi summoned an electric shock that blew away most of the flying Heartless and froze others in place. A thrill of excitement shot through her just like that electricity.</p><p>“Try Gravity on those Yellow Operas,” Jiminy said. “They’re immune to lightning!”</p><p>Kairi whipped her keyblade around and pointed it skyward again. “Gravity!” </p><p>Beast backed into Kairi right as the spell activated a purple-black hole above her. His shoulder smacked into her spine. Both of them crashed into the floor. His arm pinned Kairi down as the gravity spell pressed against them both.</p><p>Jiminy plopped onto the stonework on his derriere. “Woops!” He crawled back to Kairi. “That one you need to point at your target! Sorry!”</p><p>Beast growled as he strained to pull himself back to his feet. “Magic, shmagic…” With plenty of willpower and a mighty roar he yanked himself upright.</p><p>“Okay, different attack, different movement,” Kairi mumbled to commit the new knowledge to memory. When the black hole disappeared, Kairi jumped back to her feet, narrowly avoiding a Yellow Opera swooping at her. “GRAVITY!” she shouted as she swung her keyblade around towards the Opera storm.</p><p>“They’re easier targets now that they’re grounded!” Jiminy exclaimed.</p><p>With a mighty cry, Kairi dashed and sliced through the grounded Yellow Operas. The earlier stunned Air Soldiers had, thankfully, been taken care of by Beast, and this horde of Heartless was nearly gone. “I’m getting this!” Kairi exclaimed.</p><p>“Yes! Yes! You’re getting it!” Jiminy jumped up and down on her shoulder in glee. “Now onward to the keyhole!”</p><p>Kairi’s on-the-job magic lessons went about as bumpy as expected, with misses and hits, but thankfully none of her other spells hurt Beast this time. Progress was made in the heat of battle - Kairi now knew two magic spells to use alongside her keyblade whacking, and either Jiminy warned her of attacks coming from behind her or Beast cut down those Heartless first. Together, the ragtag group left the corridors and elevators at least mostly empty of Heartless behind them in their rush towards the keyhole.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Thrown Into the Fray</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <i>To get back to the keyhole that needs to be sealed, Kairi fought her way through the Heartless swarm still crawling about the castle with the help of the Beast and Jiminy Cricket. But finding the princesses and the keyhole isn't the end of the Hollow Bastion chapter of Kairi's unfolding story. Almost as if an outside force is preparing her for the final battle, she first must test her newly acquired skills against a massive Heartless. We'll see how this shakes her confidence...</i>
</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>All the princesses stood before the keyhole and its machinery when Kairi returned to the Grand Hall alongside Beast. Light shimmered from the girls’ bodies, matching a shining ring of light lacing the edge of the heart shaped hole.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Belle!” Beast ran on two feet now towards a princess dressed in yellow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The girl in yellow, Belle, turned at the call of her name with a wide smile of joy and relief. Belle took a step towards him, but he caught her in his engulfing embrace first. “Beast,” she said softly. “You’re here…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course I am,” Beast replied in a low rumble.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The touching reunion brought a smile to Kairi’s face and a pain to her heart. No time to dwell on the couple; Kairi instead turned towards the princess closest to her, a woman clad in a silver dress. “Where’d that Ansem guy go?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The woman in silver shook her head. “Already gone into the keyhole.” She pointed at the gaping hole, a shadowy mist seeping out of it like mist. “Even when he left, the darkness kept coming out. We’re doing what we can to hold it back but...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“With just the six of us, there’s only so much we can do,” chimed in an ebony-haired woman from where she stood opposite of Kairi. She wrung her hands together, clearly concerned. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mmm-hmm!” The apron-wearing girl beside the ebony-haired woman nodded, but kept silent as she closed her eyes and wrinkled her nose in concentration.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That wicked man was smiling when the darkness took him,” chimed in a golden-haired woman dressed in blue, shuddering. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Smiling</span>
  </em>
  <span>, of all things. I’ll never forget how wicked it looked…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’s Sora?” a girl wearing teal asked Kairi with a scowl on her face. “We need the keyblade wielder to seal the keyhole.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sora is… is…” Kairi’s throat caught her words before they could escape. Sora couldn’t really be dead. No, she couldn’t accept it. Besides, there was something more important to deal with. “I’m a keyblade wielder,” Kairi announced as she held her floral blade over her head. “I’ll seal the keyhole.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The woman in blue gasped. “A wielder and a princess? Remarkable!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The girl in teal raised a brow, clearly unsure, but nodded anyways. “Good luck.” In contrast, the other princesses relaxed in relief at the sight of the keyblade.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ll keep holding back what we can,” the woman in silver said to Kairi. “But act quickly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will!” Kairi gave her best Sora impression with a cheesy grin and a thumbs up. Talk about an embarrassingly bad imitation, but maybe it was still reassuring, she hoped. The frowns from the princesses in blue and teal weren’t very reassuring to Kairi, though.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Belle interrupted, “Wait. You’re going by yourself?” She grasped Beast’s arm tightly with clear concern on her face as she watched Kairi.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’ll have me!” Jiminy corrected from his new perch on Kairi’s head. “But, um… I suppose I can only give advice from the sidelines, eh-heh…” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Only now did Kairi look behind her. Donald and Goofy weren’t there… When were they going to get here? Surely they weren’t that slow. Fear finally crept into her heart, clenching it tightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No, there’s no backing down now. Riku needed her, and Sora’s other friends would catch up. She straightened her shoulders despite that tight fear still deep in her chest. “Yes, but I can do this.” She turned and smiled at Belle. “I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now Beast was the one that appeared uncertain. He glanced down at Belle, then at the keyhole, then over at Kairi. “I’ll help. We all need to get out of here alive.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi sighed with relief, feeling a weight lifted she didn’t realize was there. “Alright. Thank you.” But then as she turned towards the massive keyhole again, she froze. “...How do I even </span>
  <em>
    <span>seal</span>
  </em>
  <span> a keyhole?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jiminy chuckled sheepishly. “Oh, right! Just… point your keyblade at the keyhole and concentrate on it. That’s how…” He trailed off, then cleared his throat. “That’s how the keyholes on other worlds got sealed.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“But it’s so </span>
  <em>
    <span>huge</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Are you sure that’s all?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fairly certain!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, alright…” With a heaviness in her heart again, Kairi turned and pointed her keyblade towards the keyhole. Focus, focus, focus… on what? On light? It’s visual and abstract; it’s not really something to associate a feeling with, right? But then again, light is warm, soft, comforting… light like the sun bouncing off the ocean that she once ran alongside… A soft light formed on the tip of her keyblade. Progress!</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A mighty roar echoed in the room, shaking the walls. The light on her keyblade vanished with her concentration shattered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What in the world was that?!” asked the apron-wearing girl.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It must be coming from inside,” replied the woman in silver, pointing with a gloved hand at the gaping opening.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It </span>
  <span>definitely</span>
  <span> is,” replied the girl in teal. “It feels worse than dealing with Jafar…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi had sensed the spine-tingling ominous presence just as much as the other princesses had. A darkness pressed on her from beyond the keyhole, a force still unseen but still daunting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Belle jolted, stepping back from the Beast. “Everyone get back!” The other princesses retreated to the edges of the room without question. Kairi ran forward and slid into a battle position despite how her heart pounded with fear. As Beast took a position alongside her, Kairi realized part of her fear was exhilaration, excitement to take down a massive foe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That feeling lasted about five more seconds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Darkness clumped in the middle of the room and formed into a purple quadruped Heartless with curved horns and talons. With each step it took, the room trembled. Kairi’s knees trembled, too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Beast roared, running at the quadruped and ramming into its leg. When the creature stumbled, Beast slashed at it, but whatever damage he dealt hardly even showed on the creature’s skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh no! I’ve never seen this one before!” Jiminy exclaimed, clinging tight to Kairi’s shirt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then how do we stop it?!” Kairi shouted, taking several steps backwards.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Every Heartless has a weak point!” Jiminy stammered. “We just need to figure out this one!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi gasped. One of the horns on its head stuck out from the others. “The black horn!” She whipped her keyblade towards the ceiling. “THUNDER!” Lightning crackled and struck through the horn--but the creature only kept up a slow, methodical pace, completely unfazed. “What?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Beast circled around the quadruped, snarling and trying to get its attention. The Heartless focused on Kairi and stepped closer to her instead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Different spell, or different attack pattern!” Jiminy scrambled to hide behind Kairi, clinging to the back of her collar. “Heartless have immunities too!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Great, just great…” Kairi ran in a circle, swinging towards Beast but also keeping near the edge of the room. Maybe getting too close to the keyhole wasn’t her best idea, and relying on Beast to deal with the brunt of the attack right now hurt Kairi’s pride, but she needed time to think, time to plan, time to actually attack. What else could she do with how she had no combat instinct from what little time she’s had swinging around a giant key?! </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The all-too familiar crackle of a Thunder spell sparked from the behemoth’s feet and strung out like spider webs across the floor. Kairi yelped and jumped away in time, but the attack had nearly snagged her legs. No time to think, time to only act. Acting without thinking was not a strong suit of hers; her stomach twisted even more. “Gravity!” She aimed her key at the front legs of the Heartless; the attack stopped the Heartless in its tracks. Was it actually hurting it, though? Kairi ran at the behemoth, hacking and slashing at the creature’s front leg while Beast attacked it from its back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The spell faded. The creature’s massive talon swung out and punched Kairi in the gut, sending her flying. She rolled on the ground, her keyblade keeping her from being thrown too far. Even with the wind knocked out of her she scrambled as quickly as she could back to her feet. Once upright again, she squinted at the ensuing combat between Beast and the behemoth to try and find an opening of attack, try and figure out what to do, try to think at all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aero!” Jiminy piped up, sounding winded as well. “It can act like a shield! Point to the sky!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi did as instructed. A gust swirled around her in an orb. Her hair and skirt rippling from the magic wind, Kairi rushed again towards the behemoth’s back legs. Making the thing lose its balance sounded like a decent tactic, right?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wrong.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before she could get close enough to strike, the creature’s thumping footsteps knocked her onto her backside. Another rumble kept her stuck to the ground, and again Beast’s slew of attacks wasn’t enough to keep the behemoth’s focus off of her for long. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her vision blurred. Her cheeks stung with sweat. She couldn’t keep up. Her eyes pricked with welled up tears. She was never fast enough. She always lagged behind. Even when she needed to act quickly, her pace couldn’t match--</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“STOP!” quacked a warbled voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A glowing clock froze the behemoth in place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Standing in front of her to guard her with a shield was that dog-person from before--Goofy! “Don’t worry, Kairi!” Goofy called to Kairi over his shoulder. “We wouldn’t abandon you! We just had to grab backup!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh…?” Kairi heaved herself to her feet. Sure enough, standing in front of the other princesses was Donald, staff held high. With Donald were three other newcomers; the shining sword and the giant star-shaped weapon two of them held caught Kairi’s attention first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The girl with the star weapon yelled and hoisted the star high above her head. “Take THAT!” She threw the massive star at the creature. Its four blades slashed across the creature’s front legs. The behemoth buckled to kneel.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s the opening!” yelled the man with the giant sword. He pointed his sword at the creature--BAM!--and sliced at the behemoth’s back legs. How did he move so fast?! And he was already standing back by Donald already?!</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Heal,” said a soft feminine voice from beside her. Kairi turned her head as green magic swirled around herself. The third newcomer now stood beside Kairi, staff in hand with traces of the magic coming from it. “My name’s Aerith,” the staff wielder explained. “For a new combatant, you were doing better than I had hoped.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um… thanks?” Kairi winced a bit even despite how Aerith smiled at her. While any soreness or hints of injuries no longer hurt her, Kairi still felt an ache in her chest despite what seemed like sincere praise from this woman.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“THUNDER!” quacked Donald. Lightning struck the kneeling behemoth, keeping it frozen in place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Kairi!” shouted the star weapon user who was bouncing in place. “Your move! Hurry hurry!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?” Kairi stared blankly at her. How did she know her name--oh wait, Goofy and Donald must have told her. With that push, Kairi swung her keyblade overhead. “Gravity!” She sidestepped Goofy just long enough to fire the spell towards the behemoth. It fell on one knee and grunted while trying to rise. While it wasn’t completely immobile, it was at least in one place. With a yell, Kairi ran at the creature and ran up its bent leg. The horn was the weak spot, so she may as well attack it, right? Hacking and slashing away, Kairi found herself reinvigorated in the fight; she could do this! The behemoth bucked its head and knocked her to the ground, and Aerith and Goofy caught her to keep her on her feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shockwave! Look out!” called out the bouncy girl. Everyone else jumped back from the creature, and Kairi did the same. The behemoth Heartless stomped around the room, shaking its surroundings and sending out that same Thunder attack. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi jumped out of the way just in time, but Aerith got zapped. “You okay?!” Kairi asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The woman nodded with a pained smile, the green magic already tracing over her own form. “I’ve dealt with worse.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man attacked it again--a loud crack of a sound followed by a sword swing. Goofy charged at the behemoth with his shield, with a followup attack from the giant star the bouncy girl threw at its horn. Donald and Aerith followed up the attacks with magic aimed at the creature’s legs, which Beast slashed away at with his claws, and then Kairi had her opening to use Gravity and pin the creature down again for a more substantial attack. Even as it grew weaker, the behemoth stomped around the room towards Kairi, only for Goofy to jump in at just the right moment and protect her from the attack with his shield. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the battle continued, Kairi realized there seemed to be a pattern to how everyone was attacking. Not necessarily that everyone was attacking in the same way every time, but more that the newcomers, Donald, and Goofy fought, defended, and attacked like a well-oiled machine. Beast was more of a wild card but he still was a fearsome power to behold, especially when he roared. Everyone else here had more combat experience than her and knew how to work with each other. But even the inexperienced Kairi could see how technically the group had the advantage over the monster. With how massive and slow the behemoth was, it couldn’t attack them as often as they were attacking it. So even though its attacks could deal massive damage, and all of their attacks were probably miniscule in comparison, the newcomers were taking advantage of the creature’s size and lack of speed to keep whaling on it repeatedly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yet the creature just wouldn’t go down. It slowed, yes, but nothing seemed to be taking it down entirely. Worry crept into Kairi’s chest as she realized this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gravity!” Donald cried out, pinning the creature in place this time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re up!” called out the bouncy girl towards Kairi. With a nod, Kairi flung her keyblade up over her shoulder, ready to run at the creature.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“...true light...within the darkness…”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her grandmother’s story? She paused.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kairi! Go!” Donald quacked at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“...fragments of light… in the hearts of children…”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi pointed her keyblade to the sky. “LIGHT!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A pillar of light crashed through the behemoth’s head. It crumpled to the floor. Darkness melted into a puddle, a purple ooze that evaporated into the air. Kairi fell to her knees just as any trace of the creature vanished. “That was a lot…” she mumbled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wowie! You’ve got quite the light magic there!” Jiminy popped back onto her shoulder from where he had been clinging tightly to her back before. “I know I didn’t teach you that!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… don’t know where it came from.” Kairi frowned, shifting to sit back on her heels. She had used light magic before, against those other Heartless, moments before she had gotten her keyblade. So the magic had come from her, not from her weapon. Why didn’t she try light magic earlier? She could have saved everyone half a battle!</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Two hands hovered in front of her. Aerith and Goofy, each with their own sort of gentle smiles, silently offered to help her stand. That small gesture warmed her heart and prompted her own smile; Kairi accepted both of their hands and allowed them to pull her to her feet. Aerith cast another quick heal spell over both Kairi and Goofy before turning towards the others. “Anyone else need healing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man with the sword shook his head. “We’re fine for now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Only then did Kairi remember the other princesses that had been in the room. She looked for them, only to see that they were no longer there. Well, none of them save for Belle. The rest must have fled the room during the intense battle. Not like Kairi could blame them at all. Beast had rejoined Belle and the two were talking in low voices. Before Kairi could approach them, they were already moving to leave the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So you got a real keyblade there, eh?” The bouncy girl from earlier had her face about an inch away from Kairi’s nose. Kairi yelped and stumbled backwards while the other girl laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yuffie, be careful,” was Aerith’s only gentle chastisement with a shake of her head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just wanted to see what a different keyblade looked like!” Yuffie protested with a bright grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Without commentary, Kairi held up her flower-adorned keyblade for Yuffie to inspect. Yuffie peered and leaned in various directions to look it over with oohs and aahs galore. Kairi couldn’t help but giggle. When Yuffie grabbed for the shaft, Kairi let go to allow the other to hold and inspect the keyblade much more closely. Maybe she needed to name her keyblade, Kairi realized. Maybe she’d think of something later.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pulling herself from her own thoughts, she asked the others gathering around her, “How did you all even get here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gummiships,” was the sword wielder’s reply. “The best way to travel between worlds.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goofy leaned over and explained to Kairi, “These three are all Sora’s friends from a place called Traverse Town.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lucky for us they were already on their way here when we were going to find them,” Donald explained proudly, arms crossing as he joined them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh… right…” Biting her lip, Kairi nodded. There was a lot she needed to catch up on for this to really make sense.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aerith jumped in before the silence could become awkward: “Actually, this world, Hollow Bastion, was our real home. The home of our childhood. We wanted to be here when it’s restored.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sword wielding man shook his head with a sad sort of look, gaze shifting about. “It’s in worse shape than I feared…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry, Leon.” Aerith placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Once Ansem is defeated, all will be restored.” She addressed Kairi once more by saying, “Including your own island home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You mean…” The memory of the swirling dark storm hit Kairi like a tidal wave. What happened then made ten times more sense after seeing Heartless here in this castle. “Destiny Islands really is lost to darkness right now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, but you’re getting it back!” Yuffie chimed in, thrusting the keyblade back into Kairi’s hands. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to hang out after that. Shame, too!” She thumped a hand on Kairi’s shoulder. “I never got to really meet you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why not?” Kairi asked, ignoring the stinging sensation on her shoulder from the boisterous yet friendly gesture.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Once the worlds are restored,” Aerith explained gently, “they’ll all be separated again. Everyone will be back in their own home worlds.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But…” Kairi faltered. These people that had helped her because of her connection with Sora were… going to leave before she could really get to know them, befriend them like he had. Having more friends sounded really wonderful, having another connection to Sora who… Well, she was being robbed of the chance to spend time with them. At least for the most part. But there was a workaround for whatever time was left. “I have an idea, actually,” Kairi spoke up hesitantly, fingertips pressed together. “If it’s not too much to ask… um…” She looked up at the sword wielder first, wanting to address him but realizing she never learned his name.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m Leon,” the man spoke up, as if he could tell why she was tripped up. “What’s your idea?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi swallowed hard. “I know… I know you guys have already helped me so much, taking down that giant Heartless and saving me. But, well, see, I’m still a newbie with my keyblade. And my magic. And… anything related to fighting.” She chuckled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You want us to tag along to help you kick Ansem’s sorry butt and all his Heartless hordes?!” Yuffie chimed in with bright excitement in her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I, uh…” Kairi nodded, feeling sheepish now. “Yeah. If it’s not too much to ask.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aerith shook her head. “It’s not too much at all to ask. I will accompany you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wherever Ansem went off to will be dangerous,” Leon replied. “But not as dangerous as what will happen if you fail. So I’ll come, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Count me in as a tagalong!” Yuffie chimed in with a wave of her arm, as if impatiently waiting to be called on in a class. “They won’t know what hit ‘em before they get a throwing star surprise to the face!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi laughed at the mental image her words provided, and she relaxed at their reassurances. The more the merrier for dealing with a foe as large as this Ansem man was going to be. “Thank you… all of you.” Her eyes stung, and she sniffled as she wiped at her face. “There’s just so much…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Aerith surprised Kairi by embracing her. “That’s understandable. You were thrown into this unexpectedly, I’m sure.” Kairi nodded, and Aerith continued, “With friends at your side, you’re sure to succeed.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And you’re our friend!” Yuffie thumped Kairi on the back. “Same with the barnyard crew.” She pointed a thumb towards Goofy and Donald</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Hey!” Donald threw a fist in the air. “I’m not from a barn, you thieving...thief!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Coulda fooled me!” Yuffie yelled back across the room with a grin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goofy just chuckled, completely unoffended, while Aerith giggled and Leon actually cracked a smile. Kairi couldn’t help but smile, too, even with her many conflicting emotions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whatever!” Donald humphed and crossed his arms, petulant like a child. “Now come and close the keyhole, Kairi!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kairi then realized Donald and Goofy had moved over to the massive machine while she had been talking with Aerith, Leon, and Yuffie. How did she miss that? “Right… Be right there!” She turned towards the three again, now suddenly at a loss for words.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leon nodded with a small smirk. “We’ll go on ahead. When you’re ready for takeoff, we will be too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As her three new team members made their way out of the castle, Kairi walked up to the massive heart-shaped door that the behemoth had come from. “This is where I point the keyblade and make the light beam appear?” Kairi asked, looking over her shoulder.</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Jiminy popped onto her shoulder again. “That’s right!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath, Kairi raised her keyblade and exhaled, eyes closed. Focusing now was much easier; soon light crept under her eyelids, and she opened her eyes. A fine beam of light shot between the tip of her keyblade and the keyhole before her. With another flash of light, the keyhole then dissolved away. Keyhole sealed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Part one finished. Now to move onto finding Riku--and taking care of that dark man Ansem.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>
  <i>My portrayals of Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith are solely based on their appearances in Kingdom Hearts games, since I have not yet played or watched playthroughs of Final Fantasy 7 or Final Fantasy 8. So for any readers that are more familiar with those two games than I am, I apologize in advance for any confusion that may arise.</i>
</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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